Sensex slips deeper into red, down 247pts

The Sensex has slipped deeper into red and is now down 247 points at 19,729.

ICICI Bank and ONGC have plunged 2.5% each to Rs 1,297 and Rs 1,333. HDFC Bank has slipped over 2% to Rs 1,720.

Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra have shed 1.8% each at Rs 741 and Rs 742, respectively.

Dr.Reddy's, Infosys and HDFC have dropped 1.6% each to Rs 604, Rs 1,877 and Rs 2,610, respectively.

Wipro, Bajaj Auto and Grasim are down 1.3% each at Rs 485, Rs 2,392 and Rs 3,700, respectively.

Bharti Airtel has surged 3.5% to Rs 926. NTPC and Ranbaxy have rallied around 3% each to Rs 242 and Rs 451, respectively.

SBI has advanced nearly 2% to Rs 2,294. Cipla has added 1.3% to Rs 176.

Out of 2,717 stocks traded so far, 1,636 have advanced, 1,021 have declined and 60 are unchanged.